


thicker than water

by starkly



Series: Pepperony Week 2014 [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, Family, Gen, Pepperony Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pepper thought the fact that she didn’t talk about her family much would clue Tony in. She obviously thought wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	thicker than water

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Pepperony Week 2014](http://pepperonyweek.tumblr.com/), Day 7: Family. (All headcanon re: Pepper’s family brainstormed with [floodplain](http://archiveofourown.org/users/floodplain/).)

"You’ve done  _what_?”

Tony rubs his suddenly sweaty palms on the hem of his shirt. There is a small chance he may have miscalculated this. “Sweetie, what’s the fuss? I thought you’d be excited.”

"I haven’t seen my sister in  _six years_ , Tony. You never thought there might be a reason for that?”

"I just figured you were busy."

Tony just stares back at her, and finally she sighs, relenting. “Fine. When is she coming to town?”

"She may already be here and waiting in the living room. Um. Surprise?"

Pepper groans and pinches the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath and standing up a little straighter. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go say hi, you’ll bring me a martini. Okay?”

"Got it." Tony gives her a nod and a kiss and disappears down the hallway, leaving Pepper to go greet her sister.

Veronica Rowan née Potts looks much like she did when Pepper last saw her; people had often confused them for twins even though they were born several years apart. Though she had slight signs of aging about her, Pepper figured these last six years had been good to her, or at least good enough.

Veronica stands when Pepper enters the room, the two women approaching each other and, after a moment’s hesitation, hugging hello. Then they sit down on the couch, Veronica watching her carefully, and Pepper feels a bit anxious, though she knows she shouldn’t be.

"Let me guess, he didn’t tell you he invited me for a visit," Veronica finally says, crossing her legs at the ankles.

"Sprung it on me about five minutes ago," Pepper agrees, sighing softly. "Sometimes he is very, very off with his surprises." She shuts her mouth quickly, realizing how that must sound. "Not that I’m not thrilled to see you — "

"Ginny," Veronica interrupts, and god, it’s been ages since she heard that nickname. "I get it. It’s been a while."

"I would have liked more than a couple minutes to prepare, that’s all." She sighs again, smoothing out her skirt just to have something to do with her hands. "How are the kids? And, um — "

"Mark? They’re fine. Mark’s working all weekend so we dropped the kids off with his parents while I’m out here."

"I really hope Tony didn’t inconvenience you," Pepper starts, but Veronica shakes her head before she can continue.

"Between you and me, I could use a little break. Being a full-time mom is exhausting."

Pepper is silent, not really able to contribute anything to that. She knows it must be, which is why she’s been so focused on her career for so long.

"What about you?" Veronica asks, and Pepper silently curses even though she’s still smiling at her sister. "Thinking of kids anytime soon? Clock’s ticking, Ginny."

"Really? You’re going to ask me that after you just admitted having kids is exhausting?"

Luckily for Pepper, Tony comes in then before any sort of awkward silence could settle, a martini in each hand, and grins at the both of them. “Thought you ladies could use some drinks,” he announces, setting the glasses down on the coffee table.

Veronica turns and fixes him with a stare, saying coldly, “I don’t drink.”

Tony visibly deflates, chipper expression falling away, and there’s a tense silence for ten long seconds before Veronica laughs.

"Nah, I’m just kidding," she says, picking up the martini. "Hey, extra olives. Nice."

Tony glances at Pepper, who’s still holding her breath like she’s waiting for the inevitable bomb to go off.

"So, Tony Stark, huh," Veronica continues, sipping at her martini. "You’re a lot shorter than you look on TV."

Tony continues glancing back and forth between her and Pepper. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

Veronica just smirks and adds, “You know, now that I’m here I’m going to have to make sure you’re good enough for Ginny, right?”

"What?" Pepper says, voice tight, at the same time Tony goes, " _Ginny_?”

Veronica just laughs and sips at her martini. If anything good comes out of this venture, Pepper thinks, at least Tony will learn to stop springing surprises like this on her. Hopefully.


End file.
